


Baby Fever

by Ilovethings_somuch



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe RPF, Sebastian Stan - Fandom
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Romance, dad!Sebastian Stan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-05-06 05:08:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14634750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilovethings_somuch/pseuds/Ilovethings_somuch
Summary: When my brother and his wife asked if Sebastian and I would be able to look after their baby girl for the weekend so they could have a little alone time, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. That also means I didn’t exactly discuss the idea with Sebastian beforehand. Not that I was worried he would say no, I knew he would be willing, but I may have also forgotten to bring it up with him until the day they were bringing her over.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to just be a one-shot, but then I started getting all these ideas to make it a series and based on the response I got on tumblr, I think that I'm actually going to follow through with some of those ideas and turn this into a little mini-series.

Sebastian and I were enjoying a lazy Saturday morning. The first one in a long time where he didn’t have to run off to some meeting and I had a couple days off. We were still laying in bed, talking, when my phone vibrated to signal an incoming text. Sebastian picked up my phone and read the message to me.

“Um, your brother says they’ll be dropping Molly off around noon. We’re watching Molly today?” he voice sounded a tad disappointed but I knew that was mostly because he thought we wouldn’t have a reason to get dressed today.

“Not just today, until tomorrow night,” I reminded him, or at least I thought I was reminding him.

“You never told me that,” he said, sitting up and looking quite confused.

“Yes I did, it was on,” I paused and thought about what happened earlier in the week before it dawned on me. “Oh shit. I was going to tell you Tuesday night at dinner but then my boss asked me to stay late and I was so flustered and tired by the time I got home that I forgot all about it. I’m so sorry, baby, I hope it’s okay,” I looked at him sheepishly, waiting for him to respond.

He sighed dramatically before smiling and kissing my cheek, “You know your family is my family now too. Of course it’s okay. It doesn’t really go with how I thought this weekend was going to go, but I don’t mind having Molly around.”

“I love you,” I remind him before leaning in for a kiss. I probably would’ve let that kiss lead to more if we hadn’t been expecting Molly in less than an hour, but as it was we finally got out of bed and cleaned up the apartment to prepare for a baby to be crawling around.

My brother and his wife ended up hanging out at our apartment for a little over an hour so that Molly could get comfortable in the new space before they left. They live on Long Island and when they realized they hadn’t been to the city since Molly was born they decided to take a little weekend getaway. It was also the first time Molly was spending the night and mine and Sebastian’s apartment, so they were a little over prepared. I swear they brought every toy and book she owned, but my sister-in-law assured me they left most of them at home, a pack and play for her to sleep in, at least 5 different outfits, and enough food to last her a week.

It finally got to the point that I knew if I didn’t shoo my brother out they would never leave. They each gave Molly a final kiss before they cooed and waved their way out the door. Molly seemed confused about all the fuss but wasn’t overly upset when the door closed between her and her parents. She kept looking at Sebastian curiously. She had met both of us before on multiple occasions, but I’ve still been around her more often with Sebastian being away for filming and such, so she’s not quite sure who he is. Sebastian stared curiously back at her, raising his eyebrows and contouring his face in different ways to try to get her to laugh. Instead of laughing she crawled over to him and reached for his face. Sebastian gave her a look of furrowed brows before bending down to be at her level. As her eyes focused on his face she slowly reached up one hand and pinched his lip between her thumb and forefinger. Sebastian pulled away and gave her a look like a confused puppy.

“Excuse you,” he said with a laugh.

“Oh yeah, my brother told me that she’s very curious about mouths right now,” I told Sebastian as I sat down and pulled Molly onto my lap.

As if to prove my point Molly turns to me and sticks a finger in my mouth, poking at my top teeth, as I talk. I closed my teeth around her finger gently, thinking that would discourage her, but it only seemed to make her more interested. I pulled away from her so she couldn’t reach my mouth anymore before setting her back on the ground and giving her a toy to distract her.

She was a pretty easy baby. She was happy to play by herself or with me and Sebastian. Though, “play” is a loose term since all she really did was spread her toys around the living room. She only tried to escape down the hallway or into the kitchen if she watched Sebastian or I head in that direction.

She took a long nap in the afternoon, allowing me and Sebastian to enjoy some time to ourselves. Though, we just ended up falling asleep as well. I was happy to hear she was now only eating table food so it was easy to just give her bite-size pieces of whatever Sebastian and I were eating. We made her a grilled cheese for dinner, along with some broccoli and a banana that her mom sent with her. I swear her mom is more into meal prep for Molly than Don is into meal prep for himself, but it made for an easy dinner and Molly loved her broccoli.

Molly probably stayed up later than she should have, but she didn’t start to get crabby until a little after 10 and I didn’t want to force her to fall asleep early at the risk that she would then wake up super early in the morning. I knew it was time to put her to bed when she pulled her blanket out of her car seat and face planted into the soft fabric. Sebastian started laughing at the little pout she made when she couldn’t get comfortable on her blanket but he moved to rescue her before the real tears started. While he distracted her with cuddles and a pacifier, I got up to make her a bottle. She practically chugged the whole 8 ounces and her eyes were drooping after 4. I walked her to her crib as gently as I could and was able to lay her down without so much as a squeak. Sebastian and I went to bed shortly thereafter. Apparently spending the day with a baby, even an easy baby, is a lot of work.  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I loud squawk woke me from my sleep. I looked at the clock to see it was only little after six. Sebastian must not have heard her so I snuck out of bed to fetch her before she really started crying. My brother told me that if she wakes up early in the morning they just make her a bottle and then she’ll go back to sleep for a couple hours. So once she’s in my arms I made my way to the kitchen to mix a bottle for her. She started cooing at the bottle as soon as she saw it so I knew she was hungry, I just hoped she was still tired enough to go back to sleep.

I sat down on the couch with her and she drank her milk as quickly as she had the night before. Her eyes got a little droopy as she was drinking so I was optimistic that it would work and she would fall back asleep. As soon as she was done I patted her back to get her to burp quickly so I could put her pacifier back in her mouth and get her back to sleep. I tried to rock her gently to get her to relax, but she seemed too interested in eyeing up her little basket of toys to fall asleep. That’s when I decided that maybe she needed to go back in her crib. Unfortunately, the moment I laid her down she starts crying loudly. I scooped her back up with a sigh.

“You’re parents always say you go back to sleep, why don’t you want to sleep?” I asked her as she poked at my face.

I sighed again but decided that maybe if I laid down with her she’d fall back asleep. Of course, there’s nowhere for me to lay with her other than the floor or mine and Sebastian’s bed, so I voted for the bed. I tried to be as quiet as I can as I went back into the bedroom. I laid Molly in the middle of the bed next to Sebastian before I crawled in next to her. She started making little moaning noises from behind her pacifier and Sebastian slowly opened one eye to see what was going on. He looked from Molly to me a couple times before he shook his head with a smile.

“You just couldn’t resist could you?” he accused me lightly, alluding to our conversation last night about babies only sleeping in their crib.

“I tried,” I insisted, “I’m hoping she’ll fall back to sleep in here, but you need to be quiet.”

He held up his hands in surrender and smiled again as Molly grabs his shirt in an attempt to roll herself over. I put my arm over her tummy to hold her in place and she gave up with a sigh. It took awhile, but she eventually fell back to sleep with one hand holding Sebastian’s shirt and one hand holding my hair. I did my best to stay awake until she falls asleep, and I thought about moving her back to the crib once she was out, but decided it was better to sleep with her in bed than to risk her waking up when I moved her. Once she was fully asleep I let myself fall back into a light sleep.  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I’m not sure how long we were awake before she fell back to sleep, but when we woke up again it was a little after nine. She didn’t really make any noise this time, but I woke up when she started pulling at my hand. I opened my eyes slowly and notice that Sebastian was already awake.

“Good morning,” he smiled.

“Good morning,” I hummed back.

We stayed in bed for a while after that. Molly didn’t seem to be in a real hurry to get up and start playing again. She would go between sitting on the bed and laying over Sebastian. As soon as she noticed that he was wearing a watch she was completely enamored by it. She spent a good amount of time moving his arm so that she could see the different sides of the watch and kept trying to get the watch to light up or do something fun. Sebastian let her poke and prod at his arm with a good-natured smile until she tried chewing on the glass and he had to draw a line. Even still he just put her pacifier back in her mouth and distracted her by picking her up and sitting her down on my stomach. Sebastian slid closer to me once there was no longer a baby in between us and wrapped his arm around my stomach and behind Molly’s back. He nuzzled his nose into my neck and cheek, making me giggle at the sensation. Molly started laughing because of my laughter which just made me and Sebastian laugh more because she’s so cute.

Shortly after that, I received a text from my brother that they would be here to pick up Molly in about an hour. We finally got out a bed, then, and I got Molly dressed while Sebastian made some banana pancakes for all of us. We were just finishing up out late breakfast when my brother and his wife arrived. They hung out with us for a while before they finally decided it was time for them to get heading home. It was bittersweet to say goodbye to all of them, especially Molly. It was strange how after merely 24 hours with a baby around, the house seemed so empty without one.  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sebastian flopped onto the couch next to me after his shower. He picked up his arm to let me snuggle into his side before leaning his cheek on my forehead.

“This weekend was fun. It was kind of awesome to have a baby around,” Sebastian calmly noted.

“You really think so?”

“I do. Even if she did ruin one of our days to sleep in, I couldn’t even be upset with her ’cause she just wanted to cuddle and hang out with us.” I nodded my agreement, a giddy smile growing on my lips. “I know we talked about waiting, but I think this weekend just confirmed that I don’t want to wait anymore,” Sebastian said it so quietly that I wasn’t sure I heard him correctly.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” I asked as I picked my head up to look at him.

He smiled bashfully before nodding, “I want a baby.”


	2. Charm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Sebastian and I decided we were ready to start our family, we had no idea it was going to be such a rollercoaster. 
> 
> warnings: angst, fluff, pregnancy (also kind of a spoiler so I’m sorry but I don’t wanna surprise anyone and upset them) miscarriage.

Saying we wanted to have a baby and actually having one were two different things. There was a lot to consider. Sebastian had a couple films lined up and was going to be out of town a lot the next year and a half at least. Even though I didn’t necessarily have to work, I loved my job and was reluctant to give it up just to travel around with him as he went from movie set to movie set. After a lot of discussions and a couple arguments, we finally decided we needed to wait a little while before we got serious about trying. However, once we realized that we were on the same page about wanting a baby in the semi-near future, I think both of us got a little more lax on our contraception methods. If I forgot to take my pill here and there it wasn’t the end of the world, and if both of us were too lazy or hurried to grab a condom well, pulling out has always worked out for us in the past.

That in mind, I shouldn’t have been surprised when I was late. My period has never been the kind that is perfectly on schedule every month so it wasn’t until I was over a week late that I really realized it. I opened the app on my phone that was supposed to tell me when I was ovulating and such and when I realized just how late I was my stomach dropped. I swore under my breath and I quickly got dressed and headed to the nearest drug store.

I didn’t want to take the test until Sebastian was home, but he wasn’t due back for a couple hours. So, I sat around with the pregnancy test haunting me from the bathroom counter all afternoon. I found myself poking and prodding at my stomach multiple times as if I would be able to feel it already if I really was pregnant. I was so caught up in my thoughts that when Sebastian finally did get home I didn’t even hear him. It wasn’t until he was standing in front of me with the box in his hand that I realized he was there.

“Babe, does this mean what I think it does?”

I nodded, “I’m late.”

I watched as he tried to hide his smile, but his eyes grew brighter, “you didn’t take the test yet?”

“No, I was waiting for you.”

“Okay, well, let’s do it,” he pulled me up from my spot on the couch and took my hand in his on the short walk to the bathroom. He pulled open the box and read all the directions while I sat on the edge of the tub. “It looked like you just have to pee on here and then we wait five minutes and it should tell us in this little window here. Okay?”

I nodded and took the stick from him before sitting on the toilet and doing my business. Once I put the cap back on the end and washed my hands I sat back on the edge of the tub by Sebastian. He set a timer on his phone for five minutes. We didn’t say anything while we waited. I knew he wanted it to be a yes, and I did too, but I was too afraid to be wrong to get my hopes up at that moment. When the timer went off I jumped, and Sebastian laughed nervously as he smoothed his hand down my spine.

“Are you ready?” he asked before kissing my cheek. I took a deep breath and nodded. Sebastian reached forward and plucked the test off the counter to bring it into view. Only one bar showed up in the window.

“Not pregnant,” I whispered as I willed away tears. Sebastian didn’t say anything, just pulled me into a long hug. Neither of us cried, probably because we were trying to stay strong for the other, but boy did I want to. I thought I had been good the whole day. I tried so hard not to allow myself to imagine what was going to happen if I was pregnant, but even subconsciously my brain had been convinced that I was. It was only a couple hours of believing I was pregnant, but finding out that I wasn’t hurt more than I could bear. I wish I could say that was the end of our troubles.  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After that day, we decided that even though it wasn’t ideal timing, we didn’t want to wait anymore. I stopped taking the pill completely and we started paying a little more attention to when I was ovulating. Sebastian stopped taking on new projects for a little while so we were optimistic that by the time I was actually ready to deliver, he would have some time off. I also agreed that after the baby was born I would consider not going back to work, but we still had a lot of time before that decision had to be made.

The second time I was late I noticed after only one day. Based on the research I had done we decided that it was best to wait a week before taking a test. That was the most stressful week of my life. All I wanted was a drink, but that wasn’t an option. Finally, a week later, Sebastian came home with a test. We sat on the edge of the tub the same way we had the first time. Though this time I watched the timer, so the sound didn’t scare me when it went off, but the five minutes seemed even longer. Sebastian reached for the test again and this time 2 dark lines showed up in the window.

“Pregnant,” I breathed. Sebastian jumped up, pulling me along with him, and did a little happy dance.

“We’re pregnant,” he yelled while pumping his fists in the air. He pulled me into a hug then and we were both laughing, cheering, crying, and kissing as it soaked in that we were going to have a baby.

Sebastian had to leave for some reshoots in Atlanta a couple weeks after we found out. The timing of his work wasn’t all worked out yet, but he was going to make it home for my first prenatal appointment. It was kind of amazing how good I felt. I had pretty steady morning sickness for the first couple weeks after I found out, but I slowly started to feel better until I got to the point where I wasn’t throwing up at all anymore, or even feeling nauseated anymore. The tenderness in my breasts also started to be less noticeable, but I mostly attributed that to the fact that Sebastian wasn’t home to bother them all the time anymore.

I suppose I should have been more cautious, I should’ve done more research, but I had no idea what those signs were leading me towards. It wasn’t until I started bleeding a little bit that I got concerned, but even when I looked that up I found websites telling me it was common and not something I should be concerned about. Even so, I called my doctor and asked her if I should be concerned. She was the one who informed me that while spotting is common and can lead to nothing, it can also be a sign that a miscarriage could occur. I tried my hardest to put the thought out of my mind, but I couldn’t stop myself from doing more research on the early signs of miscarriage. It seemed that the reason I was feeling good, the lack of morning sickness and my lessening breast tenderness, were also signs of a miscarriage.

I called Sebastian as soon as I put all that together and told him. I think he was in as much denial as I was. Neither of us were willing to let go of the possibility that this could still be okay. Sebastian finished reshoots earlier than expected and when he got back none of my symptoms had changed. We were still holding on to the hope that we would get through this pregnancy. I slept easier with Sebastian by my side again, but when I woke up with a wet feeling between my legs I knew it was over. I got up and took a shower without feeling anything. It wasn’t until Sebastian joined me, informing me he had stripped the bed and thrown the sheets away, that I really accepted what was happening. My legs gave out but Sebastian caught me before I hit the ground. He lowered us both so we were sitting on the bottom of the tub with the shower spraying over us, the water mixing with our tears.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” I cried into his chest.

“It’s not your fault, you know that,” he replied easily as he squeezed me tighter against him, but I just shook my head and cried more. I couldn’t believe that this happened without some sort of cause. Even though I knew, logically, that this happens to many people and for a variety of reasons, I felt like a failure.  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Our doctor told us we could start trying to get pregnant again as soon as we felt ready. It took a while for both of us, but after a couple months, we were ready to try again. This time I was even more determined to not get my hopes up, but when the time came and the test read positive, I was over the moon with happiness once again. We made a prenatal appointment and even though it was determined that the miscarriage was most likely due to a fatal genetic problem in the fetus, our doctor suggested coming in a little earlier than most would.

To say we were nervous going into that appointment would be a painful understatement. Sebastian was jittery and trying a little too hard to play it cool. Meanwhile, I couldn’t stop over-thinking about all the ways it could go wrong while I paced around the apartment for 3 days leading up to the appointment. Once we were actually in the doctor’s office and I was forced to sit down I couldn’t stop my leg from shaking and if Sebastian hadn’t been holding my hand I probably would’ve been obsessively picking at my cuticles.

When the doctor finally came in I started to calm down slowly. She seemed confident in the way everything was progressing and her cheery attitude seemed to rub off on me during the appointment. She ran a couple standard tests and we talked about genetic testing for the future along with giving me some tips on signs to watch for. Though there wasn’t much to see on the ultrasound, we were able to hear the baby’s heartbeat and that steady sound was the most reassuring part of the entire visit. She gave us an estimated due date and we scheduled appointments leading up to that before we left. As soon as we got out of the office it was like a huge weight was lifted off of me. When we got in the elevator Sebastian was quick to turn and pull me against him for a chaste but lingering kiss. Even when we broke apart he left his forehead resting against mine until we got to the ground floor. We walked back to our apartment after that, enjoying the last couple warm days of the year.

We were about halfway back when I noticed Sebastian smiling wider than before. “what are you thinking about?” I asked him suspiciously.

When he looked at me he actually broke into a little fit of laughter, which just made me more wary of what was going on in his brain. “It’s good, I promise,” he said when he noticed the look on my face. “I was just thinking, third time’s a charm.”

“Maybe we’ll have to name it Charm,” I shrugged.

“Absolutely not,” he said in a serious tone, making me laugh as I wrapped my arm around his waist and hugged myself to him.  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sebastian was right, the third time really was the charm. The pregnancy went perfectly, that also meant I was sick a large portion of the time, but my doctor continued to assure me that that was a good sign that the baby was doing well. We decided we wanted to find out the gender so that it would be easier to narrow down names as it got closer to my due date. We were having a girl.

We turned out spare room into a nursery. We painted the walls grey and added pink accents, including a cherry blossom tree along one wall. Sebastian went a little overboard when it came to buying baby clothes. It seemed that every time he went out to buy something else, he came back with a new outfit. The little girl was never going to be less than stylish with the way her father liked to shop, and her closet was full 2 months before she was even born.

Sebastian’s mom had been helping out when she could. There were many times where I would come home to find a clean kitchen and some new baby item that I had never even heard of. Georgeta was very excited about her first grandchild and though she knew we were having a girl, we were keeping the name a secret from everyone until she was born and Georgeta was less than pleased with that plan.

“I won’t tell anyone, who would I tell?” She asked Sebastian and I repeatedly after he let it slip that we decided on a name.

“I know you won’t tell anyone but that’s not the point. It’s going to be a fun surprise for everyone,” Sebastian tried to explain to her.

“știi că nu-mi plac surprizele.” (you know I don’t like surprises)

“Îmi pare rău, mamă, va trebui să aștepți” (I’m sorry, mom, you’ll just have to wait). She huffed at whatever it was that Sebastian said but she gave up on the topic, for a while at least.

My family had also been a big help in getting us ready for a baby. My brother and his wife were constantly giving us tips about where to shop for the best deals in the city and my mom planned a beautiful baby shower for us.

As the due date got closer Sebastian was busy tying up some loose ends on his most recent films and working with his manager on possible future projects. I was still working, not wanting to waste my maternity leave before the baby was even here. That was also the point where I really started to just want the baby out. We were so close, but I was tired of having to pee every 20 minutes, my ankles and feet had been swollen for what felt like forever, and I was exhausted 99% of the time. I also began to feel very self-conscious of my weight at this point. I was convinced that my face and arms had gotten fatter and that even after I had the baby I wouldn’t ever be able to lose the weight. Even with Sebastian telling me on a daily basis that I was still the most beautiful women he had ever seen, I had a hard time believing it. Most days I would come home from work with the intention of going straight to bed, but I would either get caught up doing last minute prep in the nursery or I would get in bed only to find out that it was impossible to get comfortable. Sebastian did what he could to help me sleep, making me tea or drawing a bath, but one of the things that helped the most was having him lay with me. It wasn’t falling asleep that was the biggest problem, it was staying asleep. I was lucky if I was able to sleep for half the night, most of the time I woke up around 3am without any hope of falling back to sleep. One night, in particular, all the fears of the actual birth were starting to get to me. I hadn’t meant to wake Sebastian up, but I must have moved too suddenly when I tried to sit up. His arm fell from where it had been laying on my tummy and he slowly woke up and rubbed his face before looking at me.

“Go back to sleep,” I told him gently as I ran my fingers through his hair.

“You need to lay back down if you want to go back to sleep,” he replied and tried to help me get situated again.

“I don’t think I can sleep anymore.”

“Why not?”

“It’s nothing.”

“You know,” the moment he started I knew this was going to turn into a bit of a sarcastic lecture. “I’m pretty sure a part of our vows had to do with sharing our burdens and our fears.” I glared at him and sighed dramatically before admitting what I had been thinking about.

“I’m just worried about labor and the birth and everything. There are so many things that could go wrong.”

“Hey, nothing’s going to go wrong. We have the best doctor, we’ve done all the prep classes to get you ready, we got those breathing exercises down pat, you’re going to do great,” he kissed my temple. “And then when we come home, we’re going to have a beautiful baby girl that we get to raise together. Okay?”

“Okay,” I agreed, instantly feeling better with Sebastian’s confidence. “I love you.”

“I love you,” he said before leaning in to kiss me. After he broke away from my kiss he leaned down to press a kiss to the top of my bump, “and I love you, little girl.”

“One more thing,” I started and he looked at me patiently. “What if she’s ugly?” I asked, only half kidding.

“With us as her parents? Baby, that’s impossible.”  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I went into labor 3 days before my due date. I was in labor for about 9 hours before I was dilated enough to start pushing and then it was another hour of that before Reveka Stan announced herself to the world, or announced herself to the delivery room at least. Sebastian was crying, though it’s unclear if that was due to seeing his baby girl or how hard I was squeezing his hand. The doctor laid her on my chest after Sebastian clipped the umbilical cord. Her crying slowly stopped as Sebastian and I started talking to her. Even though I knew she couldn’t actually focus on anything yet, I was sure she could recognize our voices and that she knew we were hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I used a yes/no generator to decide if she got pregnant right away or not, and it gave me two no’s before I got a yes, which is why we have to almost pregnancies before one finally makes it to term. I’m sorry. the angst called me.


	3. Work & Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reveka is getting older, Sebastian and (y/n) have bought a house, and while some changes are exciting, others are quite scary.

Once Reveka was born, it was like everything else fell into place. I decided not to go back to work until she was going to school full time and in the meantime, Veka and I spent our time traveling alongside Sebastian as he filmed a couple of movies. Though it wasn’t the typical upbringing and certainly not what either of us originally thought we would want, it worked well. I never thought I would be able to give up my own job, but having Veka helped me realize how amazing it is to be able to travel with Sebastian and not give up spending our time together simply because he got a job. It also meant that Veka became a very sociable baby. She was always being passed around on set as people wanted to hold her and as she grew she became the type of kid who would talk to just about anyone. There were many times on set where she would run off only to be found playing make-believe games with the cast and crew. Though her running around didn’t do anything good for her mother’s anxiety, it was good to know that Reveka and I were always welcome on set.

Once we were closing in on her 4th birthday Sebastian and I decided that it was time to settle into a home and get Reveka ready for school. We eventually sold our apartment and bought a townhouse in Brooklyn Heights. We did some research and found a good preschool in the area and I quickly started scheduling playdates with some of the other kids and their parents.

During this time, Sebastian had sort of unintentionally taken a break between films and we started having more serious conversations about how we were going to manage everything.

“I want to go back to work,” I said earnestly as I pulled my shirt over my head in exchange for a camisole to sleep in. “It’s not that I feel like I need to just because you’re between films. I know I don’t need to, but I want to, even if it’s only part-time, while Reveka’s at school.”

“I’m going to get another movie,” Sebastian said it like he was trying to reassure me, but in truth, it only made me more uncertain of the future. I watched as he dug through his dresser in search of a shirt before he seemed to give up and pulled out a pair of athletic shorts instead.

“If that’s what you want then you should, and you will.”

“If it’s what I want?” he turned to face me as he said it and the look of hurt on his face took me by surprise.

I thought about crossing the room to him but thought better of it as I started talking, “I just mean that maybe you could take a real break. You know, not everyone does movies back to back all the time. You could take longer breaks in between. Maybe even take a whole year off,” I try to come off as nonchalant even though I’ve been thinking about this conversation for a while now.

“You think I need to take a break?”

“No, Sebastian,” I broke some of the tension by reaching out to him and taking his hands in mine. “I don’t think you need to. I just think that there’s going to be so much happening around here really soon and I don’t want you to miss anything. Veka and I, we can’t follow you around the world forever.”

“I don’t expect you to.”

“I know,” I dropped his hands and crossed back to get into bed. “Maybe I’m being selfish,” I said half to myself as I pulled the blankets down.

Sebastian slowly made his way to his side of the bed, I watched his features change as he worked through whatever was in his head. “It’s not selfish for you to ask me to stay,” he spoke clearly and finally met my eyes.

“Then I want you to stay,” my voice cracked slightly. He reached for me then and pulled me partially onto his lap. I shed a few tears as I felt at least some of the anxiety I’d been feeling the past few weeks melt away. “I don’t want you to give up what you love. I know that acting is a part of you and I’ll support that no matter what. It’s just that,” I paused and Sebastian took the moment to wipe a tear off my cheek. “now that we have Veka and this house, I can’t imagine being here without you.”

Sebastian nodded but otherwise stayed quiet for longer than I wanted. When he finally did speak it was rushed, like if he didn’t say it fast he wouldn’t say it at all.

“I can’t give up acting completely.”

“No, no of course not. That’s not what I’m asking.”

“Maybe we could swing it so that I only film when Reveka’s on breaks. Then you guys could still travel with me,” he said it like he didn’t believe himself that it would work, but I was happy to hear him making an effort.

“That would be perfect. I don’t know how many directors would actually be up for that, but I think it’s worth a shot.”

“I’ll talk to my manager about it tomorrow, okay?”

“No rush. We have time, right?”

“Of course we have time,” he smiled mischievously. “You know what else we have?”

“What’s that?”

“A whole floor between us and Veka,” he bit at my neck playfully.

“Isn’t she directly above us? I don’t think a floor is actually going to help,” I laughed as I tried to reason with him, but even so I helped as he moved to hover over me.

“Then it looks like Mama’s gonna have to learn how to be quiet,” he shrugged as he dove beneath the blanket.  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sebastian did talk to his manager and she told him about the same thing I did. That while it’s not entirely impossible, there will be a lot fewer opportunities because not a lot of studios and directors will be able to work with an actor that is only available certain times of the year. I couldn’t tell how Sebastian actually felt about that news, but through the day he stayed busy playing with Veka and making a game out of unpacking the rest of our boxes. To celebrate how much progress we made in unpacking that day we decided to order a pizza and watch a movie. Veka picked The Lion King and neither Sebastian nor I could complain about her choice. Of course, with the dim lights in the family room and the comfort of sitting on her Dad’s lap, it didn’t take very long before she was asleep. Sebastian and I were still enjoying the nostalgia a Disney movie brought and were hoping we could simply sneak her into her bed once the movie was over. This, of course, didn’t exactly work out.

“Daddy,” Reveka mumbled as she woke up during the final scenes.

“Yes, baby?”

“I wanna sleep in your bed tonight.”

Sebastian quirked an eyebrow at me, making me laugh. “How about, you can lay with me and daddy until you fall asleep and then daddy will put you back in your bed.”

Her little bottom lip stuck out for a moment before Sebastian poked at it and she sucked it back in, “okay,” she sighed and slid off Seb’s lap to head towards our bedroom.

“Apparently it’s bedtime,” Sebastian laughed as he took my hands and pulled me up off the couch with him.

By the time Sebastian and I made it into the bedroom Reveka had already climbed onto the bed and was sprawled out in the center. I went to my respective side of the bed and Sebastian did the same, we stayed on top of the sheets so that it would be easier to move Veka later.

“Can you read me my story?” Veka asked Sebastian, we’re currently reading a short chapter book to her called My Father’s Dragon. Sebastian agreed easily and went to fetch the book. In the meantime, I took Veka’s blanket and covered her up properly instead of the half covered situation she had from climbing on the bed. By the time she was situated and properly tucked, Sebastian had returned with the book.

I’m glad Reveka asked Sebastian to read instead of me, this way I got to lay back and listen as my love puts my little love to sleep. Not to mention the fact that I’ve always found Sebastian’s voice to be one of the most soothing sounds, he could be reading or talking about anything and his voice alone made me hang on every word. It seems Reveka feels the same way, for it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep. Sebastian is only about halfway through the chapter when we both realize she is fully out.

“We’re never going to get through this book if she keeps falling asleep so fast,” Sebastian noted.

“Hey, don’t complain,” I whispered back at him as he slid out of bed to take Veka up to her own room. She stirred slightly as he picked her up, but as her head fell against his shoulder she quickly settled back into sleep.

By the time Sebastian returned I had changed into my sleepwear and was in the ensuite currently brushing my teeth. He made his way into the room and stood behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and leaning down to rest his forehead along my spine.

“Hey, I need to spit,” I mumble around my mouthful of toothpaste, but he barely loosened his grasp enough to let me bend forward. I rinsed quickly before turning around to face him and holding his face in my hands. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” he pecked my lips as if to prove his point, “I’m just tired.”

“Well, brush your teeth and let’s go to bed then.”

He nodded but didn’t make any move to let go of me, and instead pulled me tighter against him in a hug.

“I’m gonna do it,” he spoke quietly as if he was afraid of the words.

“Do what?”

“I’m only going to film on breaks. Or maybe if they’re films with shorter schedules so I only have to be away for a few weeks at a time, but I’m going to cut down on my schedule.”

“Are you sure?”

“If cutting down means I get to spend every night like this, with my two favorite girls, in our home, there’s no reason for me not to do it.”

“I’m proud of you,” I whispered before kissing him gently. “I know it was a hard decision, but I for one am looking forward to us being here, together.”

“Me too,” he kissed me again for a moment before pulling back with a smirk pulling at his lips.

“What?” I asked suspiciously.

“It’s nothing, well, I was just going to ask, uh, do you think, maybe, it could be time to have a uh, another baby?” he stuttered out.

“You want another baby?” the shock in my tone was quickly outweighed by the smile on my face.

“I do, I mean, if you want to.”

“Yeah, I think Veka needs a sibling.” Sebastian smiled widely as he leaned in for another deep kiss.


End file.
